


The Shortest Day of the Year

by bluetoast



Series: Angels and Ministers of Grace [17]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Airports, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awesome Padmé Amidala, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Luke Skywalker is a good bro, Meet the Family, Rey Needs A Hug, Skywalker Family Feels, Sleep, South Dakota, Stress, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 01:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8823979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluetoast/pseuds/bluetoast
Summary: Winter (Christmas) Break has arrived! Ben and Rey are headed for South Dakota, although Rey has a feeling that Ben's going to be sleeping the whole way there; but neither were expecting to run into an old friend of Ben's at the airport. Padme has a polite conversation on her flight from Denver.  Daisy Skywalker travels with her dad to the airport, and learns that whatever is wrong with her cousin isn't quite as simple as it seems. 
HC Bingo Prompt - Toothache





	

Rey didn't understand why she and Ben arrived at the airport three hours ahead of their flight time at O'Hare until they reached security. Between coats, backpacks, their boots and Arya, they might as well have been wearing shirts that screamed 'security check-point nightmare.' She also understood why they had checked their suitcases in, rather than haul the carry-on sized bags on-board with them. She set her boots into a gray plastic bucket and then pulled her laptop from her backpack. “Are you going to have to take her out of there?” She indicated the carrier Ben had set down behind her bag.

“Yup.” He set all of his things into the buckets, then unzipped the carrier which he'd set down first, pulling a slightly dazed Arya from inside. “Hopefully, she'll be asleep before we board.” He held onto her harness with one hand and cradled her bottom with his other arm. 

The TSA agent on the other side of the convenor gave Ben a look. “You'll need to have your hands checked on the other side, sir.” 

“Not a problem.” He adjusted his cat in his arms. “Is she allowed to be on a leash on the other side of security for a short time?” 

“Yes, provided you keep a tight hold on her. Please keep in mind heavy pedestrian traffic and allergies.” The woman chuckled. “She's better behaved than most of 'em.” She waved them on. “Merry Christmas.”

“I will.” Ben nodded. “And Merry Christmas to you as well.” 

Rey shook her head as she went through the metal detector, the coldness of the floor was seeping through her socks, extremely thankful that at least it wasn't wet as well. The past two and half weeks had fairly flown by. Much to her relief, it had not snowed since the storm at the start of the month, other than the occasional flurry. Her gen-ed finals were finished yesterday morning, and all of her art professors had issued a deadline of this Friday for all essays and projects; she'd simply dropped all of them off before leaving campus yesterday. When she reached the other side of the scanning area, she pulled her boots on first thing, but didn't bother tying them as she stuffed her laptop back into her bag. “You're weird.” 

Ben snickered as he put Arya back into the carrier after he'd gone through, and the cat let out an indignant chirp. “Oh, I know. But it's just for a little while, Miss.” He pulled his boots out of the bucket. He managed to get his feet stuffed into them before he was approached by a TSA agent, and he obligingly held out his hands for them to be checked. 

Rey said nothing as she gathered up their things, sliding Ben's laptop into his bag. With their shoelaces flapping, the two of them made their way down the concourse, and she was doing her best not to think about the fact that she was going to get on a plane for the first time. She'd told herself over and over, just how safe they were, how the pilots knew what they were doing, but still, getting onto a giant metal tube and shooting across the sky? How was that natural? “Tell me again how safe flying is.” She muttered to Ben as they passed a Starbucks. “And how long is our flight?”

“Just under two hours.” They came to an empty bench and he quickly claimed it so they could tie their shoes and get their bags adjusted. “And I have been dozens of flights, and the worst that's ever happened was a bad bout of turbulence coming back from London.” He tied his shoes and noted that Rey's were shaking slightly. “You okay?”

She tried to smile. “Well, I've never been on a plane before, and I spent half of last night awake, thinking of everything that could possibly go wrong.”

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “It's nowhere near as dangerous as your bus ride was from Houston to here.” He swung her around so her feet were in his lap and he deftly tied her boots. “In truth, I'm not too fond of flying either. I'm fine once we level off, it's the getting up and down I don't care for.” 

Rey turned once he was finished and set her feet down. “Thanks.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before picking up her backpack and rearranged the contents, slightly disturbed from having to take her laptop out and shove it back in. “What's the longest flight you've ever been on? Counting layovers.”

Ben thought for a moment as he found Arya's leash at the bottom of his bag and put it in the front pocket. “Nineteen hours, from Budapest to Buffalo. The layover in New York was longer than the one in Amsterdam.” 

“Seriously?” She zipped her bag up. “How far do we have to walk to our gate?”

“We need to go Concourse H and all the way to the end.” He stood, shouldering his backpack. “We'll be glad of the exercise, given how long we have to sit.” 

“Suppose you have a point.” She tugged on her backpack and picked up their coats before Ben could grab his. “You have Arya to carry. I can lug the coats. They're arguably lighter than her.”

He gave her a mocking look. “Are you implying that my cat is overweight?”

“No.” She snickered and the two of them headed back into the throng. “You say she's a diva, but what she really is, is a little princess who has you completely wrapped around her paws.” They ducked around a crowd near a small food court. “But given that she always knows when you're in need of some comfort, I'd say it's a fair trade.” 

“There is that.” He coughed into his sleeve. “I think I finished around twenty frames last night, and cut out mattes for forty more.” 

“I'm just glad you were back in time.” She frowned. “Who was Gwen picking up at the airport anyway? Her and Leslie's parents both live in Oak Park.”

“Her brother Grant. He's in the Air Force and he's flying home to surprise their parents for Christmas.” He grinned. “He's been in Japan for almost three years now.” 

“Wow.” The crowd thinned some as they came to the middle part of the concourse, and they stopped in front of the boards. “What is this, odd destinations central?” Rey scanned the flights leaving from their area and they ranged from Austin to Wichita. “Or is there really no rhyme or reason to destinations and gates?”

“Not that I've ever noticed.” Ben found their flight to Sioux Falls. “I just hope grandma doesn't have to run from one end of the Denver airport to the other.” They continued onward, and Ben tried not to think about the fact that a flight to Buffalo was leaving from the gate neighboring theirs. “They have transports for people who need extra help, but just like most everyone else in the family, she hates to admit she needs it.” He glanced behind them and pulled her to the side. “Speaking of.” 

Rey watched the motorized cart pass them, with several senior citizens on-board. “You sure your leg can make the walk?”

He gave her an indignant look. “It's a longer walk from the store to the L and that's in the wind and cold.” 

“Point.” She shifted her hold on the coats. “Now, will we arrive before or after your grandma?”

“Before, as long as neither of us are delayed.” He covered a yawn. “I can't promise I won't fall asleep on the drive to the farm, or on the plane.” 

“You're running on half a can of Monster and no rest? I think you're allowed.” they came to their gate and she set the coats down, before taking her backpack off. They chose the row of seats against the window, and through the glass, they could see that both their gate and the one next to it, headed for Buffalo, were currently plane-less.“I'm going to run to the bathroom.” 

“Sure.” Ben answered, setting down Arya's case and then his own bag. “I'll watch our stuff.” He watched her go before getting the leash out of his bag. “All right, little miss. This is just for a few minutes, understood?” He unzipped the bag and quickly clipped on the hook and then pulled Arya out. The first thing she did was jump into one of the empty chairs to investigate the window. “Yeah, it's snowy out there.” 

It had been a strange two weeks; following Doctor Andres's advice, he had not taken any calls from his parents, despite both of them calling him several times. He wasn't certain what his father wanted, but his mother had gotten around his non-answering by calling Uncle Luke instead. Ben had been fairly stunned when he learned that his mother was selling the house and moving to St. Louis. Jen and Nate, who were both going to be in Buffalo for the holidays were going to go over and pack up his room for him. When his uncle asked if there was anything other than the things in his room that he wanted from the house, the only thing he could think of having was the upright piano, if it was still there.

The dining room table had been shipped out to the farm and was supposed to arrive either today or tomorrow. 

“Oh, hello there Kitty, what's your name?” A voice said from Ben's right and he turned to see that Arya had gone down several seats and was now sniffing at a young woman's fingers, while her other hand went to check the tag on her collar. “Arya. Well aren't you pretty?”

Ben blinked in surprise; he knew that voice – and that face. “Jen?” 

The young woman looked towards him and her face broke into that wonderful granite splitting smile. “Ben!” His friend jumped up, startling Arya and ran over to him, hugging him tightly. “I can't believe it!”

He returned the hug one armed, lifting her up as he did. “I didn't think I'd run into you here.” He clucked and Arya came back over to them, settling around his legs. “How are you?”

“I'm great.” She stepped back, reaching up to lift his chin and frowning at him. “Nate was right, I would have lost it if I'd seen that stitched up.” She then tilted his head from side to side. “Are you trying to grow a goatee or did you forget to shave?” She lowered her hand, suddenly looking sheepish. “Sorry.”

“It's okay, and I didn't have time this morning to shave.” He ducked his head just as Rey returned, looking from him to his friend. “Rey, this is Jen, Jennifer Quirk. Jen, this is Rey Kenobi.”

Rey looked the slightly smaller woman over and grinned, holding out her hand. “It's nice to meet you, Jen. Ben's told me about you.” Jennifer was shorter than Rey had expected, nearly a full foot shorter than Ben, close to Leslie's height. 

“Cringe to think what he's told you, or how much.” Jen shook her hand, beaming. “I don't have the luxury of talking on the phone all that often, so I've only heard about you from Nate.” She rolled her eyes, “and getting information out of him is almost as impossible at it is to get information out of this overgrown puppy.” She tucked a tiny lock of hair behind her ear.

“You don't look like a nun.” Rey had to say it; in her mind, nuns did not wear blue jeans and pale pink sweaters. The woman's brown hair was bound in a single braid that fell halfway down her back and the only jewelry the woman was wearing was a silver chain with a crucifix on it around her neck and a black band on her left ring finger. It came out a little sharper than she meant; but the woman was unfazed.

“That's because I'm out of uniform.” she grinned, reaching down to scratch Arya when the cat stood on her hind legs, clinging to the woman's jeans. “Are you sure this isn't a dog, Ben?”

He chuckled. “Nope, absolutely a cat, she takes too many naps to be a dog.” He rubbed his nose, and Rey saw the slight tinge of pink in his cheeks. “I better put her back in her kennel before some allergy-freak mother appears and starts screaming bloody murder.” He bent down enough for Arya to jump into his arms and went over to their small stack of things. 

Rey frowned, the shift in Ben's mood was unexpected. “Is something...” She was cut off as Jen's hand came up to her arm and she turned. “What?”

“He's overtired.” she shook her head, her smile sad. “Holidays aren't easy for him.” 

She nodded, lowering her voice. “I'm so sorry about what happened to your circle of friends in high school. It's ghastly.” Of course Jen would be familiar with Ben's mood shifts, despite their time apart. Rey was still learning them. This woman and Ben had lived next to each other for close to sixteen years and had been friends for longer than that. 

“Thank you.” She smiled then leaned towards her, her face had a rather conspiratorial look on it. “Don't let him use your shoulder for a pillow, not unless you want to find drool on your sleeve.” they both looked over at Ben, who was putting Arya back inside her kennel with a fresh pet pad. “We were in choir together. When we traveled, we sat next to each other on the bus.” 

Rey nodded, “I'll keep that in mind.” She looked back towards Ben. “I actually haven't heard him sing.” The two of them walked over towards Ben, Jen picking up her bag and coat from her chair. She didn't mind the woman joining them; but it was still slightly awkward in her mind. Although she supposed if they were to suddenly to run into Poe or Finn, the same sort of thing might occur. 

*

Daisy watched the landscape racing past outside the window as she and her dad drove down the Interstate, the last remnants of Brookings vanishing behind them as headed for Sioux Falls. Every year, when Dad went to get Grandma from the airport, one of the kids always went with him; while it was technically Elijah's turn, he and Anna had exams at the high school and they wouldn't be finished until right when Ben's plane would arrive, a full thirty minutes before Grandma's. If the flights were running on time. This May, when they came to visit again, Elijah would go with Dad and she'd stay behind. 

“How you feeling, honey?” Dad's voice cut into her thoughts. “Teeth still hurt?”

“Not as much as yesterday.” She mumbled. “At least when the braces finally come off, I'll have the straightest teeth in the family.” 

“True.” He smiled, pulling the car into the left lane to pass a tractor-trailer. “And you'll also never have to have your wisdom teeth removed.” 

She snorted. “I don't even have wisdom teeth. The dental tech who took the x-rays couldn't believe it.”

“I know.” He shook his head. “The only other person I know who didn't have them is Ben.” His face drew into a half smile, and Daisy knew he was thinking about something he wasn't going to share. “Maybe our new table will arrive while we're gone.”

“Are we going to put all the leaves in it?” She rubbed her nose. “Mom said the table had three of them.”

“When it's like that, the table can seat twenty. I don't think we need room for twenty people just yet. Although we'll have at least one, because without it, the table has room for seven, but I think Elisa would object to being that sandwiched between you and Anna.” 

She laughed. “We don't take up that much room, Dad.”

“When the three of you start talking with your arms as well as your voices, you do. Someone is bound to get smacked in the face.” He shook his head as eased the car back into the other lane. “And now we're adding three more people and a cat to the house for almost a week. It's going to seem crowded.” 

Daisy leaned back in her seat. “Why is Ben bringing his cat with him? Couldn't he find someone to watch it?” She saw him frown slightly. “What?”

“Arya's essentially a therapy animal for your cousin. She may not be registered as such, but that's what she functions as.” He shook his head again and muttered something in Spanish she didn't understand. “the form of depression Ben has is profound, Dais. I myself didn't know how bad it was until this past summer. It's a frightening thing, what goes on his head sometimes. He can't just make himself feel better when he wants to, and even with people to reassure him, it just...” He sighed. “It's complicated.”

Daisy gave her dad a wry look. “Isn't 'It's complicated' the default explanation for Ben and his parents?”

Luke chuckled, and shook his head as they passed a sign telling them that Sioux Falls was twenty-seven miles away. “More or less, Dais. More or less.” He nodded towards the dashboard. “See if you can find a radio station playing Christmas music. See if we can get into the holiday spirit before we get to the airport.” 

“Sure, Dad.” She leaned over and quickly found a station out of Sioux Falls playing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She sat back and turned her gaze back to the passing countryside. It was going to be a great Christmas.

*

Padme had been secretly relieved when Ben had stated that it would be much easier for all of them to just go to Sioux Falls and have her skip coming to Chicago. Recently, she'd been feeling her seventy-five years more often. Cutting the corner on one part of her trip helped immensely. She was also glad that she would get to spend an equal amount of time with all six of her grandchildren; something she'd never had. She hoped it would not be the last. 

“Would you care for something to drink?” The flight attendant gave her a warm smile. “Coffee, tea, water?”

She managed a smile, having long known to never drink any of those three things on an airplane. Who knew when the last time was they cleaned that water tank? “Just some ginger ale, please.” 

“Certainly.” the man turned to the college aged student on Padme's left. “And for you sir?”

“Coke Zero.” He rubbed his face. “Not a lot of ice, please.” 

“Not a problem.” He started filling two cups with ice.

Once they had their drinks and had been given small bags of pretzels, Padme took a sip of hers and shook her head at the small snack. “Would you like this?” She held it out to her seatmate.

“Thanks.” He took the offered package. “Not hungry?”

“I had something to eat in Denver while I was waiting.” She took a sip of her ginger ale. “I miss sandwiches. Used to be the norm on a flight this length, then there was a time you could bring your own food from home, but...” She shook her head, taking another drink. 

“Yeah.” the kid replied. “My gran used to be a stewardess on Pan Am, she told us about how it used to be a big deal to fly in the sixties.”

“It was.” Padme replied, smiling. “It also used to take twice as long due to technology.” She chuckled. “Headed home?”

“Yeah.” he smiled. “Been studying geology at Colorado U.” He straightened up and held out his hand. “James Erso.” 

She took his hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you James, my name is Padme Skywalker.” She lifted her chin. “It's Miss Padme, I'm old enough that I don't mind people using my Christian name as long as they throw the 'miss' in front of it.” 

He grinned. “Not a problem, Miss Padme. Headed to Sioux Falls to see your grand-kids?”

“I am. First time I'll ever get to see all six of them at the same time for a holiday.” She sighed, taking another sip of her drink. “The oldest will be twenty-four in two days, the youngest just turned ten last month. Does your family live in Sioux Falls?”

“They live in a town called Tea. It's not as small as it sounds.” He laughed as he opened one of the packages of peanuts. “Yours?”

“De Smet.” She took another sip, smiling over the rim of her cup.

“Ah, up in Laura Ingalls Wilder Country.” James grinned. “I know this girl at school whose family lives in Red Cloud, Nebraska. Makes where I grew up look like Rapid City.” 

Padme set her cup down as the plane hit a light patch of turbulence. “The last time I was in Rapid City, I was about fourteen.” She shook her head. “My parents wanted to go on a road trip to Yellowstone. Mount Rushmore was on the way. That was a long drive.” 

“Where'd you start?” James ate a few pretzels, his face genuinely interested. “Minneapolis?” 

She chuckled and picked up her drink. “No, we started in Buffalo, New York.” She saw his whole body seize slightly at her words. “Young man, are you all right?”

“That's an insane drive, Miss Padme. How long did it take you?” He took a sip from his own cup.

“Days.” she rolled her eyes, remembering the trip, made with her parents and older sister. “Fortunately, I had plenty of books to read. By the time we hit the South Dakota state line, I was halfway through my second one, and by the time we came home, I'd read the complete works of Jane Austen.” 

*

When Ben had fallen asleep on the plane with his head resting against her shoulder before they had even leveled off, Rey had been completely unfazed. She'd yet to see or catch him drooling in his sleep, and besides, he'd left for work last night at seven and had returned shortly before six. They'd left for the airport at eight-fifteen. He'd had just enough time to take a shower, check their bags and give Arya the Xanax he'd gotten for her from the vet, so she would be calm for the flight. She pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before turning just enough that she could look out the window. It was sunny and clear, and far below them, she could see the snow-covered ground, occasionally broken by a lake or a patch of woods. 

There was a low ding sound that caused her to look up, and a moment later, the intercom kicked on. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, this is your first officer speaking.” the woman sounded chipper in Rey's mind. “We should be on the ground in Sioux Falls in about twenty minutes. The temperature at the airport is a chilly but sunny twenty-two degrees, with light wind.” 

Ben grunted next to her, and she didn't hear the rest of the statement, but given the movement throughout the cabin, she guessed everyone had been told to put anything they'd gotten out away. She touched his cheek, kissing his forehead again. “Rise and shine, we're almost there.”

He groaned and stretched out his arms, raising them over his head and yawning as sat up straight. “I'll rise, but shining is up for debate.” He rubbed his eyes. “I miss anything?”

“Well, you didn't get a soda and a bag of pretzels.” She chuckled as he shifted in his seat, wincing again. “You okay?”

“These seats weren't designed for tall people.” He muttered, leaning down and peering into Arya's kennel, one finger going through the cage front. “She's still out. Has been before we took off.”

“I think she was asleep before we even boarded.” She shook her head, putting her seat-back up. “How was your nap?”

“Too short.” He sat up, and Rey heard his joints pop. “Ouch.” He glanced back behind them before unbuckling his seat-belt and stood to stretch, causing the man sitting across the isle to stare at him, wide eyed. “Damn kid, you sure you can get back into that seat?”

“Yeah.” He gave the middle aged man a smile and saw the little girl sitting next to him eyes widen. “You should see what happened to the one who started the fight.” He folded himself back into his seat, chuckling. 

“What happened to him?” The young girl interjected before her father could shush her. 

“Total loss. The car challenged me to the fight, I'm still here, last I heard, the car is in a junk yard in Kankakee.” He leaned back, chuckling as he heard the girl ask her dad where that city was.

“I've been to Kankakee.” Rey yawned, ready to be back on the ground. “Last major stop before Chicago. I remember passing a few junk yards – probably went right past the one where that car is.” She frowned. “I don't even know what kind of car hit you.” 

“All I know for certain is that it was green, and it was a BMW.” He answered, rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”

Rey checked her watch. “It's a little after one.” She squeezed his knee, smiling. “Almost there.”

“Yeah.” He took her hand in his, then kissed the back of it. “I didn't drool on you, did I?”

She gave him a look and then looked down at her sleeve. “No. Although Jen did warn me about that.” She grinned. “I'm guessing either she doesn't know we share a bed, or was pretending she didn't know.” 

He chuckled. “I'd say it was the later, or she figured it out on her flight. She also wouldn't comment either way.” 

She checked her seat-belt as the intercom pinged again and she squeezed Ben's hand. “I think my nerves over flying is starting to be overtaken by my nerves of meeting your family.” 

“I won't insult you by saying there's nothing to be nervous about. I'm going to just go ahead and say it, since I'm going to be there, it's a fair bet that Anna and I are going to have to endure a certain home video before this week is out.” He shook his head. “Knowing my uncle, he's made you a copy of it.” 

She gave him a look. “What video is this?”

His cheeks went slightly pink. “The video of me, age ten, and Anna, age three, singing along to 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' from _Mulan_.” 

Rey covered a giggle. “That has to be adorable.”

“Adorable? It's my aunt and uncle's fault she knows that movie front to back, she watched the thing five times on the flight from Mumbai to Chicago.” Ben shook his head as she felt the plane start to descend. “That was the only time both of our families were together for Christmas that year and my mom said something about 'getting down to business' and Anna just pipes up with 'to defeat the Huns.'” He chuckled. “The absolutely best part was the identical look on both her dad's and my mom's faces. I thought Grandma was going to collapse she was laughing so hard.” 

She thought for a moment; she'd seen pictures of both and about the only resemblance between Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa were similar noses, chins, and ears. “Please tell me your mom didn't think Anna was being sassy.” 

“If she did, I don't remember her getting angry about it.” He squeezed her hand again and Rey glanced out the window to watch as the plane began to land. 

*

Daisy was wrong about having to sit in the very back of the van on the drive home. She was in the middle with Grandma, while Ben slept in the rear, and Rey sat up front with her dad. Grandma had fussed over him the moment she had gotten off the plane, and for her part, Daisy couldn't stop looking at the scar on his face. She knew how it had gotten there, she'd seen pictures of him since May, but looking at it now; it was kind of scary. Up in the front seat, the cat was perched on Rey's lap, watching with a strange sort of calm that didn't seem right for a cat. 

“Now, how is seventh grade going, honey?” Grandma set a hand on her arm, causing her to turn from her snoring cousin back to her. “Hard to believe you're that old already.” 

She shrugged. “Not much different than sixth, except there seems to be a little more homework.” 

Rey turned to look at her. “How many people are in your class, Daisy?”

“Fourteen.” She answered, smiling. “How many people were in your class in Houston?”

“Four hundred and six.” She replied, “But I think I could say that I only knew around twenty of them better than passing acquaintance.”

“That's huge.” Daisy answered. “I don't even think Ben's class was that big.” 

“There's a lot more people in Houston.” Dad injected. “Did you two give that cat something? Seems rather mellow.” 

“Xanax.” Ben mumbled from the back seat. “It was that or have her go crazy in her kennel from the apartment to here. She'll be back to normal in about an hour.” 

Daisy snickered. “Yeah, she can scare Anna again by sleeping in the bathtub.”

“I think she only does that in the summer.” Rey answered, adjusting her hold on Arya. “Now her thing is to crawl under the covers and sleep on your feet.” 

“Well, that or sit on your pillow and purr in your ear until you wake up and pay attention to her.” Grandma added, shaking her head. “That's usually how that starts”

“I know.” Rey grinned. “The first time she did it to me, I forgot where I was and fell out of bed, tripped over my jeans and I think I scared Ben half to death with the noise.” Before she could turn back around, Arya squirmed out of her arms, quickly ran down the length of the van and jumped next to Ben, laying her head on his leg. “Diva.” She snickered in reply.

“Dais, if she heads back up here, grab her harness. I don't want her to accidentally startle me, all right?” Dad stated, looking back at her in the rear-view mirror.

“Sure, Dad.” She answered, then glanced in the backseat again, and she saw Ben's hand settle on Arya's head, and the cat slowly closed its eyes as well. Daisy smiled and turned back around, listening as Grandma started to ask Rey about college. 

It was going to be a great Christmas.


End file.
